Vihari, Jadeja get batting time; tour game ends in draw

Cricket
Report

Jadeja scored his second half-century of the match

Indians 311 (Rahul 111, Jadeja 75, Miles 4-45) and 192 for 3 dec (Jadeja 51, Agarwal 47, Vihari 43*, Carson 2-64) drew with County Select XI 220 (Hameed 112, Yadav 3-22, Siraj 2-32) and 31 for 0 (Libby 17*, Hameed 13*)

Ravindra Jadeja made his second fifty of the game and Cheteshwar Pujara batted as an opener on the final day’s play, which ended early after the teams agreed to call off the final hour. The Indians bowled 15.5 overs without taking a wicket after declaring just before tea.
The day began with Mayank Agarwal opening alongside Pujara, with the Indians 91 ahead. The openers added 87 together in a breezy partnership during which the County Select XI rarely tested them; the bowling was generally on the shorter side and both batters brought out some of their signature strokes. Agarwal was open to uppercuts and ramps over slips, while Pujara hit a string of back-foot punches through the covers in his usual measured manner. In the opening hour, and also by the end of the stand, they scored at more than four an over against bland seam bowling.
Offspinner Jack Carson did the bulk of the bowling – 22 overs – and took two wickets. Agarwal was out caught by Washington Sundar while trying to get to his fifty by lofting Carson over his head. Sundar was the lone Indian for the fielding side, with Avesh Khan ruled out through injury.

Pujara then dabbed one straight to backward short leg trying to keep an offbreak down, before Hanuma Vihari and Jadeja put on 84 for the third wicket. Vihari was unbeaten on 43 and a promoted Shardul Thakur made 6 off ten balls before the declaration. Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul did not bat.

All four frontline batters on the day capped off decent returns for the match, with at least starts and time in the middle in both innings. Jadeja aggregated the highest runs for the Indians in the game.

All of the Indians’ fast bowlers got a bowl in the second innings but were conservative with their efforts as a long series awaits. Jasprit Bumrah and Thakur took the new ball, and Mohammed Siraj and Umesh Yadav bowled a few overs between them in a passage where openers Jake Libby and first-innings centurion Haseeb Hameed were largely untroubled.

Varun Shetty is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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